Story of Medusa: a Tragic Snake-Haired Gorgon from Greek Mythology
Table Of Content
This snake does not constrict its prey, it throws loops of its body on top of the prey to subdue it. This is a thin snake with a head about the same width as its body. These snakes are usually between 18 inches and three feet long when fully grown.
Most of the Venomous Snakes in California are Vipers
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Though she has a different name, she has the power to turn people to stone when they look into her eyes. One of the sisters on the show found a woman who summoned the creature to punish men. She claimed that they shamed her for sleeping with one of their members. The sisters convince her to change her mind before the Gorgon can slaughter the men.
Garter Snakes
Red Racers are often spotted alongside highways, unfortunately as roadkill. This is partially because they love basking in the heat reflected off the highway and partly because it will eat fresh roadkill. The Red Racer is quick and prefers habitats without dense vegetation that will slow it down. Therefore it lives in more open habitats like sagebrush, chaparral, desert, grasslands, and rocky areas. Where does the Western Blind Snake live in Southern California? This snake is found in every county in Southern California.
Common Questions
Many people reading this article will no doubt show more curiosity than squeamishness at the presence of a snake. Some specialists claim that Athena, seeing Medusa’s devotion, even reclusive and abandoned by everyone, would have wanted to help Perseus to relieve her pain by killing her. This would therefore be why, after her death, Medusa served as an emblem for the goddess and as a lucky charm. According to the texts of Pindar and Apollodorus, a king named Polydectus wanted to woo Danae. However, her son Perseus didn’t think the man was good enough for her.
This snake is widely distributed through the coastal counties of Southern California- Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles (minus the Antelop Valley), Orange, and San Diego. It can also be found in the southwestern corner of San Bernardino County and third of Riverside County. This is one of those snakes that looks drastically different when young.
Role in Mythology
While her sisters Stheno and Euryale were immortal, Medusa was a mortal. Medusa is best known for possessing extraordinary beauty that captured the attention of many. In the vast pantheon of Greek mythology, story of Medusa stands out as both captivating and terrifying tragedy. This enigmatic figure, with snakes for hair and a gaze that could turn mortals into stone, has intrigued and frightened people for centuries.
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She is immediately recognizable, a classical figure and an exciting symbol of a monster. Medusa appeared in dozens of television shows and movies over the years. Among her early depictions were those in horror films from the 1960s. The Gorgon came out in 1964 and was a Hammer film that told a modern version of her story. The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao came out the same year and told the traditional story of Medusa.
The Exile of the Monster
A story of victim blaming, one that she says sounds all too familiar in a current American context. The actress recently debuted a bright red hair color and equally bold blunt bob haircut. Billie Eilish, another superstar wearing the skunk color trend, has opted for a more vibrant contrast to her locks. These neon green roots drip down into bold black ends, mimicking the balayage style brushstrokes that have influenced the hair color scene for so long.
Where does the Common Garter Snake live in Southern California? In regions close to the coast in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego Counties as well as the far western portions of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. It’s territory extends north into much of Central and Northern California. The Mountain Garter Snake is quite common throughout much of Northern California but there is one isolated population in the San Bernardino Mountains.
In the principle myth, Medusa is killed by the Greek hero Perseus, the son of Danae and Zeus. Danae is the object of desire of Polydectes, the king of the Cycladic island of Seriphos. The king, sensing that Perseus was an obstacle to pursuing Danae, sends him on the impossible mission to bring back the head of Medusa. "Medusa was returned to the goddess who had made her into a monster, and then became an unwilling victimizer herself," says Syropoulos. "There's never-ending violence in this story, a perpetuation of evil and wickedness. But there's much more wickedness in the goddess Athena than in the blameless girl, Medusa." Her once lustrous hair had turned into a writhing nest of serpents, forever hissing and slithering.
Medusa was one of the three Gorgons, daughters of the sea gods Phorcys and Ceto. Medusa was the only one of the three who was not immortal. Even after she was dead, Medusa's head was used as a weapon.
A metope from Temple C at Selinunte depicts such a tableau and includes Athena, who stands by the hero to guide him. In later illustrations from the fifth century B.C., Medusa is asleep while the hero approaches to attack (45.11.1). Here is a rare instance of a nonfrontal, nonstaring Medusa; in sleep, the threat of her power is canceled. Indeed, she is portrayed as a peacefully sleeping human figure—only her wings suggest that she is a supernatural creature. Some scenes include the other Gorgons, Stheno and Euryale, pursuing Perseus after he has beheaded Medusa.
The two had three daughters, including Euryale and Stheno. Though both were marine deities, their children were chthonic monsters. They also had another group of sisters called the Graeae who appeared in Prometheus Bound written by Aeschylus. The gorgoneion is not the only artistic representation of Medusa; she is also shown in scenes illustrating the adventures of Perseus. In many cases, the hero flees with Medusa’s head as her body lies nearby, sometimes with Pegasos and Chrysaor at their mother’s side (06.1070). A monumental example of this type is the central decoration of the early sixth-century B.C.
They can also make their own burrows using their specialized nose. They live in the desert (especially in sand or scrub) as well as grasslands in their range. There are three subspecies of glossy snake that live in Southern California- the California Glossy Snake, the Desert Glossy Snake, and the the Mojave Glossy Snake. Glossy Snakes are often confused with Gopher Snakes because they do look similar. The scales are glossy, hence the name, but the coloring does look a bit faded or bleached out.
The picture highlights the snake’s blue hue, making snake identification in this instance also easy. It’s also a one of a kind snake and the only member of the Drymarchon genus in the United States. With the exception of the Pacific Northwest, nine different species inhabit most areas of North America. All but one species, the Salt Marsh Snake (Nerodia clarkii) inhabit fresh water areas from small ponds to large rivers. The Northern Watersnake (Nerodia sipedon) is probably the species with the widest range. Most snakes in the yard are not poisonous and they would prefer flight to fight in any instance where they come into contact with the pets and kids.
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